I got myself confused this morning. I had a cup of defrosted blackberries, red raspberries, strawberries, reconstituted dried sweetened cranberries, and some Chinese berries. Yep, it was yummy. LOL

As I am eating it, I paid attention to how they tasted so that I can more easily recognize these flavors in an espresso.

Then I made myself a shot. And lets just say I got myself confused. LOL. The crema was sweet and nice, but the espresso was a bit on the bitter side (not too much) but I got no fruity notes.

I wonder, since I am still consider myself a n00b to this. Are there some do's and don't about what to eat and what to avoid before tasting espresso? Anything to eat or drink to cleanse the palate before or between tasting espresso?

Thanks!

As far as cleansing the palate, sparkling water seems to do wonders.

My suggestion is to stay away from sweet stuff, if you're cupping coffee and trying to analyze all the flavor notes.

LaDan wrote:Anything to eat or drink to cleanse the palate before or between tasting espresso?

The thread was started over six years ago, but The Ideal Palate Refresher offers some good suggestions.

HB wrote:The thread was started over six years ago, but The Ideal Palate Refresher offers some good suggestions.

Thanks, Dan. I just finished reading this thread, and apparently I too instinctively go for the milk to cleanse my palate after a shot, and sometimes cold water.

My question is also, not how to cleanse the palate from the previous espresso, but what foods or drinks to avoid before tasting and dialing in, and how they affect/change the espresso taste. I don't know if milk or SP or crackers are going to "reset" my palate after sour berries.. I think after eating these sour berries I pretty much masked the fruity notes from my espresso.